


Lessons Learned

by DianaandAlicia



Series: The Otto-Clarks [3]
Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Guardiana Nick and Troy, Homophobic Language, Kid Alicia, Kid Fic, M/M, Slurs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 16:52:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14794340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianaandAlicia/pseuds/DianaandAlicia
Summary: Nick and Troy just wanted to have a relaxing afternoon.





	Lessons Learned

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MeteoraWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeteoraWrites/gifts).



It was a sunny October afternoon in Los Angeles and Nick Otto-Clark was spending it with his husband, Troy. It was just after lunch and the two were sitting on the couch, Nick reading a book and Troy laying on his back resting his head on Nick's lap. It was a rare day where they both had a day off from work and they were going to enjoy it since it hardly ever works out that way. 

Everything in the house was peaceful, until the phone rang, interrupting Nick's reading. The two were considering letting the phone ring, but Troy decided against it and got up to answer. 

"Hello? Yes, this is he. She what? Yes. We'll be down right away. Thank you." 

"What was that about?" Nick asked as Troy hung up. 

"Alicia's in the principal's office. The principal wants to meet with us." 

Nick sighed but got up to get his shoes on. Alicia is his little sister and he and Troy got custody of her after their father died, and their mother's neglect and abuse was uncovered by the little girl's preschool teacher. Because Nick and Troy weren't living with Madison, they had no idea that she was neglecting and abusing Alicia. If they had, Nick would have gotten Alicia out of there a lot sooner, since their father died when she was two. 

"Did the person on the phone say what she did?" 

"She got in a fight on the playground. Beat a kid up." 

"Our Ali beat a kid up? Troy, she's five for Christ sakes." 

"I know. But that's just what I was told." 

They arrived at the elementary school fifteen minutes later and went straight into the front office. 

The secretary smiled warmly at them and led them to the principal's office. 

"The Otto-Clarks are here Ma'am." She said to Mrs. Johnson, the school principal. 

"Welcome. Please have a seat." The woman said, gesturing to the two open chairs. 

Nick and Troy sat down and surveyed the room. Alicia was sitting on one of the chairs in front of the desk pouting, and Mel, a boy who was in the second grade, was sitting there sporting a black eye and was holding a bloodied tissue to his nose. Mel's parents were sitting on the other side, parallel to Nick and Troy. 

"What happened?" Nick asked, wondering what went on. 

"Alicia punched me." Mel said, his voice altered by the tissue pinching his nose. 

"Alicia, is that true?"  

"Yes." The kindergartener whispered, looking at the ground. 

"Why would you punch Mel?"  

"He was mean to me." 

"How was he mean to you?" 

Alicia didn't answer. She kept looking at the floor and she refused to answer anymore of Nick's questions. 

"We can't solve the problem unless we know what happened." Mrs. Johnson explained to both sets of parents. 

"Alicia can you tell us how Mel was mean to you?" Troy asked gently, hoping maybe Alicia would open up to him. He wasn't as stern as Nick but he was just as loving. 

Alicia shook her head and stayed silent, not looking either of her guardians in the eye. 

"What's her punishment going to be?" Nick asked, looking at the principal. 

"Well, since she refuses to tell us what happened, this will be treated like every other physical violence matter here at school. The yard teacher who broke up the fight, and several student witnesses said that she wasn't defending herself and from where they were, it looked like she and Mel were talking, and then she just punched him. Since this is Alicia's first offence, I'm going to send her home for the rest of the day, and then for one week she's going to lose both lunch and afternoon recess time. Does that sound fair? " Mrs. Johnson asked, directing her question to the parents. 

Both Nick and Troy nodded, along with Mel's mom and dad. "That sounds reasonable." Mel's mother said. 

After the meeting wrapped up, Nick and Troy took Alicia back to her cubby by her classroom and grabbed her backpack before leaving to go home with her. 

The ride home was silent, and Nick was frustrated. Troy kept looking at Alicia in her car seat from the rearview mirror and he could see that she had a worried expression on her face. 

When they got home, Troy carried Alicia inside and sat her on the couch. He sat on her left side and Nick sat on her right. Now that they were in the privacy of their home, they could talk. 

"Alicia why did you punch Mel in the face?" Troy asked gently, wanting to get to the bottom of this. 

"No." Alicia said stubbornly, not wanting to tell them. 

"Maybe a spanking will make you change your mind." Nick said quietly, about ready to pull Alicia over his knee. 

"No Nick. That'll only scare her more. If we're gonna punish her for this it should be a timeout." 

"Troy, she hurt another kid. Gave him a black eye and a bloody nose." 

"So, we're gonna punish her violence with violence? Nick, when we became Alicia's guardians, one thing we agreed on was no spanking, unless it was for something major." 

"So, her beating up a kid isn't major enough?" 

"When we find out why, we can assess the situation. If she punched him for no good reason, then maybe a few swats won't hurt her. But, if there was a reason, we should get to the bottom of it and discuss the best way to go." 

"She's refusing to tell us though." 

Troy was silent at that but he looked down at Alicia. "Ali, if you don't tell us why you punched Mel, then we're gonna have to assume that you did it on purpose and you'll get punished." 

Alicia looked between her brother and brother in law, conflicted. She wanted to tell them, but she didn't want to hurt their feelings. 

"Me, Diana, Luciana, Ofelia, Gretchen and Althea were playing house at recess. Diana said that me and her should be wives and we played like that for a while. Then I went to go pick some flowers by the swings to make our pretend table pretty and Mel said that I was gonna end up a dyke just like my faggot brother. So I told him to take it back. He wouldn't so I punched him." 

"Alicia how do you know what those words mean?" Nick asked, confused. Never once did he or Troy use any slurs of any kind around her. 

"I don't. He just said them in a way where you know he didn't mean it like a good thing." 

"Well you know how some kids have mommies and daddies? And how others have parents that are either both mommies or both daddies?" 

"What about Al?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"You forgot Al's parents." 

"Oh yeah. And just like Althea, there are some kids out there that have a mommy and a parent that is nonbinary. My case Alicia, is that not every kid out there has a mommy and a daddy." 

Alicia nodded, waiting for Nick to continue. 

"Well, a faggot is a mean word for a boy who likes another boy, and a dyke is a mean word for a girl who likes another girl. It's perfectly fine to be gay, or to be a lesbian, but it's not fine to call those who identify that way those mean names. I'm glad you felt the need to stick up for everyone that's like Troy and I and we are proud of you, but we never want you to hit anybody ever again." 

"What if Mel says those words again?"  

"Then you need to tell a yard teacher and let them handle it." 

"But then I'll be a tattle-tale." 

"Alicia, those words are something called hate speech. And as you get older and understand the world more, hate speech can lead to really bad things so it has to be stopped. Telling on someone who uses those words is not tattling. It helps make the world a safer place." 

"Am I gonna be in trouble?" 

"Yes. Your punishment for hitting Mel is going to be a timeout after bath time tonight. Do you understand?" 

Alicia nodded and gave both Troy and Nick a big hug.  

"I'm sorry for hitting Mel." 

"We know you are. Just please try your hardest to not do it again." 

Alicia nodded and got up, running off to her room to play with her dolls. 

"I'm going to take Alicia in tomorrow and explain to the principal what happened. Just so she knows that Alicia isn't trying to maliciously punch people at random." Troy said, getting up and going into the kitchen. Nick nodded and followed him in. They looked in the cabinets to see what they should make for dinner. 

Upon finding nothing really satisfying, Troy had an idea. 

"How about I take Alicia to the store and you have some alone time?" 

"Ok. Will you need a list?" 

"No. I think I'll be fine." 

About twenty minutes later, Troy was at the grocery store with Alicia. He had put her in the seat of the cart and the two went through the store. When they were in the bread aisle, Alicia had a question. 

"Troy?" 

"Yeah?" 

"You know how you and Nick are boys and you like each other? And how girls can like each other?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Is it ok if to like both girls and boys?" 

"It's perfectly fine to like both boys and girls Alicia." 

"Because I think I like Diana a lot. Like more than O, Lucy, Gretchen and Al. But I also like Matt." 

"Ah." Troy said, understanding the situation. 

"Well, your brother and I will love you no matter who you love Alicia. You'll always have our love and support. But finding out who you truly are might take some time." He continued, grabbing a loaf of bread from the shelf. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well as you grow up, you'll learn more about the world, more about yourself and you'll have a lot more experiences. You might think that you've found out who you are when you're sixteen, but then when you're twenty-one and in college, then you might realize that you weren't done discovering yourself yet." 

"Oh." 

"But Ali, your brother and I will be there for you every step of the way, so you won’t be alone." 

"Ok!" Alicia said happily, ending the conversation. Troy kissed her forehead and the two continued shopping, finding more stuff to bring home to Nick. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope y'all liked it! I don't like Mel this season at all so I wanted to add him in as the bully
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
